The University announced today that Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) announced that Jeremy M. Weinstein, Ph.D. ’03, a professor of international studies at Stanford University, will become Harvard Kennedy School dean on July 1. Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf announced in September that his service would conclude at the end of this academic year. Weinstein, a Stanford faculty member since 2004, returns to Harvard two decades after earning his doctorate in political economy and government here (when he won the Levenson Memorial Teaching Award for his outstanding service as a teaching fellow).
Weinstein studies comparative politics and public policy, with specific interest in civil wars, political violence, ethnic politics, democracy, political change, and the political economy of development. His first book, Inside Rebellion: The Politics of Insurgent Violence, was awarded the William H. Riker Book Award from the American Political Science Association for the best book on political economy. His second, co-authored book, Co-Ethnicity: Diversity and the Dilemmas of Collective Action, was awarded the Gregory Luebbert Book Award for the best book in comparative politics. In recent years, Weinstein has turned his attention to the intersection of technology and democracy, co-authoring the 2021 book System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot.
At Stanford, Weinstein co-directs the Immigration Policy Lab, which aims to help refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants by partnering with governments and nonprofits, as well as designing and evaluating policy. He helped launch Stanford Impact Labs (SIL), which helps support Stanford researchers who work with government and business leaders to address social problems, and currently serves as the initiative’s faculty director. He teaches a popular undergraduate computer science course and launched the Data Science & Social Systems undergraduate major, which he now directs.
Outside of the academy, Weinstein has advised the U.S. government on foreign policy and national security. He served as Deputy to the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations between 2013 and 2015, and before that as Chief of Staff at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, working in both roles as Ambassador Samantha Power’s principal policy advisor and chief strategist.
”Widely respected for his energetic and empowering leadership style, [Weinstein] is responsible for the conception, establishment, and development of major initiatives,” wrote interim president Alan M. Garber in his message to the HKS community. “Jeremy is an exceptional scholar and leader with significant high-level policy experience who will bring to the deanship a rare combination of talents at a pivotal moment for HKS.”
